Abu Dhabi launched the region’s largest industrial free zone, where foreign companies will be able to set up wholly owned operations, organizers announced on Saturday.
“The Abu Dhabi government has granted status for [Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi] Kizad whereby you can have 100 percent foreign ownership ... That is a first for Abu Dhabi,” Abu Dhabi Port Co (ADCP) chief executive Tony Douglas told reporters.
Kizad, located halfway between Abu Dhabi and Dubai, has both a free zone and an international investment zone status, in a bid to diversify the United Arab Emirates’ heavily oil-based economy.
Khaled Salmeen, executive vice president of Industrial Zones at ADPC, said, “the investment zone status allows us to grant long-term contracts up to 50 years renewable.”
However, not all the foreign companies establishing in the zone will be allowed 100 percent ownership.
“The management will have to decide what will be beneficial in the long-term to the Abu Dhabi economy,” ADPC chairman Sultan al-Jaber said.
“There will have to be a free-zone status granted to some specific companies, industries or manufacturers,” provided that their business plan clearly reflects government economic and strategic values, he told reporters.
About 26.5 billion dirhams (US$7.2 billion) were invested on the first phase of Kizad, which includes the new Khalifa port.
With its 417km2 industrial zone, the emirate is trying to move one step beyond a purely carbon-based economy.
By 2030, Kizad will represent a contribution of up to 15 percent of Abu Dhabi’s non-oil GDP and between 60 and 80 percent of goods manufactured at Kizad will be exported, Salmeen said.
The project also aims to boost confidence in Abu Dhabi’s markets.
“The economic impact is minor in the short-term but what’s more important is the psychological impact,” said Sebastien Henin, portfolio manager at the National Investor bank. “It is a sign of openness given to foreign investors to come and do business in Abu Dhabi.”
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